What Are You Thinking?
by sleep is good-books are better
Summary: Based on events after the season 4 finale and the consequences of Alicia's decision to join Cary at Florrick, Agos and Associates, including her feelings for Will.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm in" Alicia said, giving Cary a short, decisive nod.

"Okay" Cary smiled, stepping into Alicia's apartment and following her into the kitchen. He took the glass of wine she offered him. "Cheers."

Their glasses clinked and the deal was struck.

They spoke for one hour, then another. About the name and billing, about their new premises. She heard no word from Peter and could only assume that he and Eli were passed out under a table somewhere, celebrating their victory.

"And the other fourth years, what do they think of me coming?" Alicia asked, circling her empty wine glass with her ring finger, contemplating the diamond. "I find it hard to believe they want me."

"Hey, you're the First Lady of Illinois. They'll want you, trust me."

"As a name partner though?"

"You're name means more than anyone else's Alicia. But more important than that, you and I can do this. We work well together, and we're damn good lawyers."

"Yeah we are" Alicia laughed.

They spoke about logistics for another hour before Cary put himself into a taxi and stumbled home. Only then did Alicia allow herself to think of Will.

It had been two days since the election, two days since she had kissed Will and told him things she shouldn't have. And pulling this on him, not only choosing Peter but also leaving him for Cary – she knew that it was mean and selfish, but it was also the right thing to do. Because she wanted this for herself. Cary was right – Lockhart/Gardner was too top heavy. And why bother spending years scraping her way to the top, where even then she would have to fight to be heard, when she could go with Cary and be in control?

She also knew that Will deserved better from her, but as he constantly said, _"business does what business does"_, and in Chicago it came with a price. Will was that price for her, and she would pay it. This was the right thing to do. It had to be.

* * *

"Honey, I'm so excited for you" Peter said, loosening his tie and throwing it on the bed. Alicia had agreed to let Peter stay the night, for the sake of moving their relationship forward. Although the sight of him in her bedroom felt a little strange.

"Peter, I wanted to ask you a favour."

"Anything."

"About Hawaii. I was wondering if we could postpone that, just until I have everything sorted with Cary. There's so much to do."

"Yes, I understand, of course there is. So do I. Maybe delaying our trip isn't such a bad idea. There'll be plenty of time to renew our vows once you're settled into your new office."

Alicia doubted that, but she said nothing. Renewing her vows with Peter was the last thing she wanted to worry about.

"To be honest, I'm just glad you're getting out of Lockhart/Gardner. Have you spoken to Will and Diane?"

"No, not yet. First thing tomorrow. I have Will, Cary has Diane. It could get ugly."

"You bet it will" Peter said, lying down under the bed covers. "Let me know how it goes. Be brave, this is a great thing. Alicia – I'm proud of you."

* * *

Alicia wore a simple black dress, nothing too elaborate. Professional. She rode up in the elevator with Cary, clutching her hands together nervously. When the doors opened and she saw the Lockhart Gardner sign, possibly for the last time, Cary whispered a brief "Here we go. Good luck." And they set off on their separate missions.

Alicia felt her chest freeze with the momentary urge to pull back, to stop herself from making this official. Will had always done right by her, protected her and cared for her, but that was a bad thing. People gossiped about their relationship, insisting that she was only promoted to partner for sleeping with him. No one at Lockhart Gardner could ever respect her. But given the chance, Alicia knew that she would make a great leader. That's what she told herself as she walked up to his glass office doors and knocked, mimicking the actions of Cary behind her at Diane's door.

"Hey" Will said, giving her a warm smile as he let her in. "We were going to talk weren't we?"

"Yes" Alicia said, giving him a look of such blank and cold determination, that he was taken aback. She knew he was expecting to talk about their kiss, but instead she would get straight to the point. That kiss was irrelevant now.

"What is it?" Will asked seriously, gesturing towards the couch. Alicia saw the disappointment in his face. He thought she was going to reject him. He had no idea. She sat down noticeably distant from him, in the armchair across the coffee table. Will sat on the couch.

"I have decided to leave the firm".

Will took a moment, trying to understand her words. "What?"

"Here is my letter of resignation" Alicia said, handing him a white envelope.

"Alicia" Will said, that one word full of compassion. "You don't need to do this. We can work this out. I don't want you to leave."

"No, you don't understand. I'm leaving Lockhart/Gardner to start a new firm – with Cary. We move into our new premises two weeks from today."

Will didn't answer. His elbows rested on his knees, his hands clasped together. He stared down at the table.

"I don't understand" he said, after a life time.

"We can't be together. And working here, with you, makes it too hard. If we don't see each other every day, there's a chance we can both move on."

"I don't want to move on. I want to be with you. Alicia, I – "

"Will, don't. Please."

Will looked up at her, his eyes pleading with hers. Alicia saw the moment they changed from vulnerable and scared into understanding. The harsh, cruel reality of what she was saying crashed down on him.

"I asked you about Cary. I asked you if I had anything to worry about, and you said no. You were lying to me all this time."

"Will – "

"Do I really mean so little to you?"

"What –no. You mean a lot to me. I don't want you to think I've betrayed you."

Will didn't like that; he opened his mouth in disgust, as if he had just eaten dirt.

"Betrayed me? This goes way past betrayal Alicia, it doesn't even begin to describe what this is."

"Will, I didn't –"

"No, you lied to me! You lied about Cary because you were in on it with him, and you used my feelings for you against me."

"Will don't –" Alicia couldn't keep the falter from her voice, the tears from running down her cheeks. He shook his head, waiting for her to finish. "Don't hate me" she whispered, looking down in shame.

"Go to hell Alicia" he said softly, standing up and walking over to his window, looking out but seeing nothing.

The office door thundered open and Diane swept into the room, looking down at Alicia in rage. Cary followed close behind her, his hands in his pockets. Alicia stood up and walked over to him, the two of them making a united front. Diane walked over to the desk where Will joined her, facing their former employees.

"All right" Diane said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I want everything laid out on the table. Cary has already informed me which of our employees are leaving, all twelve of them. Now I want to know which clients you're taking."

"You want an itemised list?" Cary asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Who are the top three?" Will asked Cary, refusing to make eye contact with Alicia.

"Sweeney. Bishop. Chum Hum" she said, looking at Diane who gave her stare for stare.

Will groaned.

"I am disgusted by both of you" Diane said, dropping her arms to her side, the anger rising from her like steam. "The lack of loyalty, the backstabbing and betrayal is abhorrent. You will fail, both of you, and miserably. Maybe not right away, but in fifteen years there will be knives in your back very much like the ones you've just put in ours. I want you both to pack up your things and be gone by the end of business day today. Please inform your co-conspirators to do the same."

Cary and Alicia gave a slight nod, and left.

* * *

Two weeks after they had declared war, Alicia and Cary sat across from each other in Alicia's new corner office. Cary had a partial corner across from hers, with more square footage, very similar to Will's. Alicia unscrewed the top from a whiskey bottle and poured two glasses, offering one to Cary.

"To Florrick, Agos and Associates" Alicia said, clinking his glass.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

A new story to keep me occupied until Season 5! Takes place after the season 4 finale and includes perspectives from almost all the main characters (Alicia, Will, Cary, Diane and Kalinda so far). I'm a Will/Alicia shipper at heart, just a word of warning, but this is more a story about my theories on what is going to happen next season on a large scale, not just a romantic one – although romance will be a massive factor for me to write about later, because I love Will. Anyway, I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without her it, my story would not exist.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Will, can I have a moment?"

Will nodded and Kalinda shut the door behind her, taking the seat across from him.

"What's up?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

"I'm ready to commit myself to Lockhart/Gardner."

"You want to get married?"

"Sure, so long as marriage includes healthcare and a five percent bump in pay."

"Done" Will said, not needing to think about it. Nothing was too much to keep Kalinda on his pay roll. "What changed your mind?"

"What do you think? Cary and Alicia screwed us over."

"I'm somewhat surprised you didn't go with them."

"They chose Robyn over me" Kalinda said, pausing when she saw Will's face. "Look, I was thinking about going with them. But I didn't, I stayed here."

Will hadn't realised until now that he wasn't the only one who felt betrayed on an emotional level. Diane was pissed, but Cary hadn't betrayed her in the way Alicia had him. From the rumours he'd heard about Cary and Kalinda's relationship, however, and the look Kalinda was giving him now, Will could put two and two together. Besides, Alicia had been her friend too.

"And now I'm committing myself to you" Kalinda went on, looking him straight in the eye.

Will nodded, understanding. Kalinda always weighed her options. The main thing was that she had stayed. "We need to stick together" he said sincerely. "I can't lose you Kalinda, especially now."

"You won't. I'll sign the contract to prove it."

* * *

"This case, K. L. Standing vs. Radar Books" Cary said, walking into Alicia's office holding up a file. "I need your help."

"What's the case?"

"K. L. Standing is the author of the _Harvey Willow _children's book series, about the adventures of a magical kid?"

Alicia nodded, she knew of the series. It had been a staggering financial success. The author was in talks with _Vagner Sisters Studios_ to make them into a movie franchise.

"Well, he's our client and he's suing Radar Books for their upcoming publication of an encyclopaedia of _Harvey Willow_."

"Okay, how can I help?"

"Lockhart Gardner are representing Radar Books."

This was it then, their first case against Lockhart Gardner. Alicia was wondering how long it would take to happen. One month.

"Who's taking it?" she asked.

"Will."

"Cary I can't."

"Oh come on Alicia, you know Will's strategy better than anyone. You annihilated him in the mock trial for _Thief_."

"Yes, but he knows me better than anyone as well."

"We knew this day would come" Cary said, refusing to let her out of this one. "Better to get it over with. And this case is a good one, Radar Books are trying to profit off our client's ideas."

"Let me think about it."

"Alicia –"

"Give me day to think about it Cary" Alicia said, giving him a resolute stare.

"Okay. I need to know by five."

* * *

"They have a good case" Will said, rubbing his eyes. He had been up half the night working on K. L. Standing vs. Radar Books, and he hadn't had much sleep. He spent most of his waking hours working, keeping his mind off Alicia and the masses of billable hours the firm had lost since she and Cary had set up shop. "They'll win."

"We can't back down" Diane said, pacing behind her desk. She was unable to keep still. "This is our first case against Florrick/Agos. Even if we can't win, we can fight. Force them into a settlement."

"They want this to go to trial, its good press."

"Are you giving up so easily?"

"No" Will said, leaning forward in his chair and laying it on the table. "But the fact is, our client is guilty. Radar Books is not protected by the affirmative defence of fair use, it's an infringement of copyright."

Diane shook her head, determined to find a way of saving face on this case. It was their first one against Cary and Alicia. She hated to lose.

"Do you know who's taking it?" Will asked. "Which lawyer?"

"Well, Mr Standing went to Cary – but I wouldn't be surprised if he asked Alicia to take over."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he'll think that she can beat you."

"I'm not so sure I could face her Diane."

"You have to. This is your case, and if Alicia is put on it, you cannot back down. We must show no fear."

"You're right" Will said, nodding. "This is my case and if Alicia is put on it, I'll fight her."

"It was bound to happen eventually" Diane said, in her best supportive but practical voice.

"Yeah."

"There's something else I need to tell you" Diane said, taking a seat behind her desk. "Last night I spoke with Peter Florrick about my judgeship. Not surprisingly, he has changed his mind and decided that I shouldn't run."

"What?" Will said, anger creeping into his tone.

"Oh, he gave me many reasons, would you like to hear them? My upcoming marriage to Kurt is number one, how dare I get engaged to a Republican. Number two was you. Apparently he has forgotten that he went to jail for corruption and that you were never convicted. I don't care if his name was cleared, you're cleaner than he's ever been."

"He seriously said that to you?"

"Yes. Apparently there's too much damage there, and he doesn't want me to reflect poorly on him."

"He is such an asshole. Diane, I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"It's my fault."

"Oh Will, stop. This is coming from Peter alone, I doubt even Alicia would have wanted me to stay. It would certainly make it easier on her and Cary if I left you alone."

"Why's he doing this?"

"I'm not entirely sure."

"Is it anything to do with Alicia and Cary's firm?"

"I don't see how it could be. Maybe it's something else. He must have found another candidate."

"Sounds dirty."

"Yes, but to be honest, I don't particularly care. It was all getting too hard, all the politics. I belong to the law. And now we can fight Florrick/Agos together, the way we should. Agreed?"

"Agreed" Will said, smiling. "That's the second best piece of news I've had all day."

The first good piece of news knocked on the door, and Diane gestured for her to come in.

"I may have something on K. L. Standing" Kalinda said.

"What is it?" Will asked, turning in his chair to look at her. "Something good?"

"Something great" Kalinda smiled one of her mischievous smiles.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

The fictional case I've written about, _K. L. Standing vs. Radar Books_, is very loosely based on the real life case _Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. and J. K. Rowling v. RDR Books_.

I want to be clear in that it is a very loose comparison that I'm using in a satirical way.

I love J. K. Rowling and I think that Steve Vander Ark, who wrote an online Harry Potter Lexicon which RDR Books wanted to publish, should not be allowed to profit in any way from Rowling's ideas. Writing this story has actually persuaded me to put my own disclaimer on my fanfiction stories, not that I would ever try to profit off them! I just love writing these stories to keep me occupied until season 5 J

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without her it, my story would not exist.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Mr Standing, thank you for agreeing to this deposition" Will said, shuffling the papers in front of him.

Alicia had agreed to take on the case for Cary. She knew that she couldn't avoid Will forever, and it was best to just get it over with. Stepping off the elevator just half an hour before, Alicia was hit with nostalgia at seeing the Lockhart/Gardner sign over reception. She was ushered into the windowed conference room and sat down on one side of the table beside her client, Mr Standing. She had brought one junior associate with her, but no more. She didn't want to appear overconfident.

When Will entered the room a few moments later, Alicia found it hard to breathe. He was just as tall and handsome as always, with his wall of self-assurance built high and strong. She saw no sign of him struggling with his emotions, there was no anger or sadness or disappointment in the way he greeted her and her client. He was in control. Alicia was determined to be the same.

"Let's get started shall we?" Will smiled. "Mr Standing, you are the author of the _Harvey Willow_ book series, of which there are six published novels and a proposed seventh?"

"Yes" Mr Standing replied, concisely.

"And you would contest that the ideas written about in these books are yours and no one else's?"

"Of course."

"Good. So tell me Mr Standing, what is this?"

Will took a single sheet of paper from his pile and slid it across the polished wood. Alicia dragged it towards them, scanning the page as Mr Standing did the same. The page had a screenshot of a fanfiction website, with a story by "badassbadger234" entitled _Lily's Choice_.

"Objection. What does this have to do with anything?" Alicia asked, looking at Will in confusion.

"Oh, well this is a piece of Harry Potter fanfiction written by Mr Standing" Will said, obviously pleased with himself. "And it is awfully similar to the _Harvey Willow_ books."

"That is a lie!" Standing said, his face going red. "I've never heard such rubbish. I am a novelist, not a writer of cheap trash."

"Well, your IP address begs to differ, or rather the IP address you had when you were living at 130 Carlisle Street in Meadow Glen, with your ex-wife Gloria. Who says hello, by the way, and witnessed you writing fanfiction for Harry Potter, based on the love-triangle between Lily and James Potter, and Severus Snape. Very similar to the love triangle between Harvey's adopted parents and his Magical Chemistry teacher."

Alicia saw Kalinda walk past the window behind Will, smiling a Cheshire cat grin. She didn't make eye contact, rather she looked at Mr Standing with an all-knowing and smug sort of disdain, a look only Kalinda could pull off.

"This is ludicrous" Standing said, standing up. "I have never heard such atrocious nonsense in all my life. I will not stand here and take it, I refuse."

Mr Standing stormed out of the room before Alicia could convince him to sit down. Will switched off the camera and laced his fingers together, looking at Alicia across the table.

"Well, that was damaging" he said with mock concern. "Jury won't look too kindly on someone who stole his ideas from J. K. Rowling, she's too beloved."

Alicia looked Will in the eye for the first time, and smiled. She pushed all her emotions to the back of her head and focused on the law, playing the game.

"This doesn't prove anything. Just because Mr Standing was writing Harry Potter fanfiction, does not mean the ideas published in his novels were not his own. Furthermore, it doesn't justify your client's attempted infringement of copyright."

"But his ideas weren't his own, they were J. K. Rowling's. I suggest you think about settling."

"What are you offering?"

"We'll change the name of the encyclopaedia to _An Unauthorised Guide to Harvey Willow Fiction and Other Materials_."

"I'll take it to my client".

"Good" Will nodded, standing up to leave.

This wasn't the first time Alicia had seen him since the day she left Lockhart/Gardner's employment. The day she took on her first case as a name partner, Alicia saw him outside court. He caught her by surprise. Every time Alicia thought of Will, she pushed aside any feelings of regret or guilt. She was good at it, but only because she had so many other things to think about. But catching her off guard, she felt the awful shame of what she had done to him. Despite all her good reasoning, at the end of the day she had harmed her oldest friend and she would never have him back. He hadn't seen her, thank goodness, so she rushed inside and found a bathroom where she let out a few loose tears. Being prepared to see him, as she was today, made it easy. Her shields were up and she could hack it. She supposed it would get easier with practice.

"Let me know" Will said, giving her a brisk nod and walking back to his office.

The way Will's eyes looked just before he left let Alicia see through the wall he had built for himself, only for a moment. She saw the hurt she had caused him, and her shield was pierced. Instead of going back to the office, she went home and cried.

* * *

Will closed his office door and immediately poured himself a whiskey, quickly downing it and pouring another. He thought about the first time he saw Alicia after she left him for Peter and Cary. He was walking out of the court house and saw her walking towards him, clutching at the scarf around her neck, pulling it closer to warm herself against the cold wind. Quickly, Will had taken the phone out from his pocket and pretended not to see her. She hurried on past him, into the building. That was like one tiny paper cut. Seeing her today had been a slash across his throat. But he was proud of himself. He had acted professionally, taken it like a man. And it felt good to win the first battle against Florrick/Agos, even if it was a small one. Speaking to her for the first time had been easier than he thought. She was on the defensive too, of course, so they were both keeping their emotions in check. But looking at her for that last time, not knowing when he'd get to see her face next, it was like taking a bullet.

He was knocked from his reverie as Kalinda came into his office.

"Pour me one of those would you?" she said, sitting down beside him on the couch.

"You don't drink whiskey."

"I do now."

"What happened? Did you talk to Alicia?"

"I saw her here, but no. I've been speaking to her husband."

"Peter?" Will was taken aback, jerking the whiskey bottle away from where he had it poised over the glass, nearly spilling some on the table. "What for?"

"Diane. She wanted me to investigate his reasons for retracting her judgeship. She's caught up in a client meeting, otherwise she'd be in here too."

"So why the whiskey?" Will asked as he handed her the glass.

Kalinda cupped it in both hands, not taking a sip, just staring at the amber liquid. "He didn't take my questioning him very well."

"Yeah, I bet. So what did you find out?"

"He's hiding something. It's not like him to do anything illegal, he doesn't even walk the ethical line the way he used to. He's clean. I actually get the feeling he's covering for someone."

"Yeah well, if something illegal did happen for his campaign, it'll be bad news for him too. Even if he didn't commit it himself."

"Something illegal did happen" Kalinda said, referring to the thirty thousand fraudulent votes which she had uncovered on election night. "But you already went to him about that. He was definitely trying to keep me from finding out something. And anyway, he won the election by more than thirty thousand votes."

"Yes, but what if they weren't the only frauds?"

"Is that likely?"

"I'm not sure" Will said, downing the last of his second glass and pouring a third.

"What happens if we find something?"

"I'm not sure."

"Will? It was Peter who started that grand jury investigation against you. If we find something that implicates him, we should use it."

"Kalinda, I was guilty. I deserved what I got, which wasn't even that bad. I don't want payback on Peter, he was just trying to be a good State's Attorney."

"No he wasn't. Not in that case. He knew exactly what he was doing, putting Wendy Scott-Carr on as special prosecutor. I wouldn't be surprised if it was him who reported you to the Bar Association."

"Kalinda, stop" Will said, putting his hand up. "Taking revenge on Peter isn't going to help us any. Our immediate problem is the client's that Cary and Alicia poached from us."

"Yes, and hurting Peter Florrick will hurt Florrick, Agos and Associates."

"We need to tread carefully here Kalinda. I know you don't want to hear it, but I can't hurt Alicia."

"You won't be. If Peter Florrick's campaign was a fraud, it ought to be exposed."

"You really want Kresteva to be Governor?"

"If he was voted in by a majority of the people of Illinois, then yes. It's the right thing to do."

Will paused, trying to think. "Okay. But I want concrete evidence first."

"Okay" Kalinda said, lifting her glass for the first time and taking the whiskey hit in one gulp. "I'd better get to work then."

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma, Kurt McVeigh, Laura Hellinger and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without her it, my story would not exist.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Will leaned forward and kissed Laura hard, moving his hand under her shirt. He had run into her that morning at the courthouse and asked her to dinner on a whim, unless of course she was still seeing her military beau. She wasn't. And now they were inside his apartment, tugging at each other's clothes, lips pinned together.

Will crushed Laura between his body and the wall, moving his knee between her legs and kissing her lightly on her neck. She was desperately unbuttoning his shirt, removing his pants, impatient for her skin to be touching his.

"Skirt" she said, turning around to face the wall so that Will could unzip her. Once it fell to the floor, she stepped out of the fabric around her feet and faced him again, placing her lips on his. Will carefully ran his hand over her bare chest, down her waist.

Laura turned her head, eyeing the kitchen bench. She took Will's hand from between her legs and led him over there, jumping up onto the table and lying back. Will placed his hands on her knees and opened her thighs, settling himself between her and finally found something to take his mind off things.

* * *

"So how come they left?" Laura asked, lying back so that her head rested between Will's shoulder and neck. They sat on his couch, cuddled up under a blanket.

"Cary and Alicia?" Will said, playing with the collar of his work shirt which Laura was now wearing. "Power. Money. I don't know really, I didn't ask. I was a little preoccupied with the whole 'we're stealing your clients and running off together' thing."

"Is that how you see it? Alicia ran off with another man?"

"Yes" Will nodded, trying to keep his tone light and amused. "First Diane tried to cheat on me with a judgeship and now Alicia has run off with Cary. I mean, why can't they think of the children?"

"Children?"

"Does David Lee count as a child?"

"Yes, he does" Laura laughed, and Will was relieved. He didn't want to get into a long discussion about his relationship with Alicia. He knew it was a sore subject for Laura. "Well, at least you have Diane back for certain" she said.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure I could survive without her just now. Kalinda too."

"Will" Laura said, turning around so that she could face him, putting a hand on his neck. "If I can do anything for you, just let me know, okay?"

"Sure" Will said, kissing her softly.

"I might just get a glass of water, do you want one?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

Laura gave him a peck on the cheek and stood up, walking into the kitchen. Will saw his phone light up and begin to vibrate in the pocket of his suit pants across the room. He stood up and retrieved it, seeing Alicia's name on the screen. He frowned, confused, but pressed the button to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Will, hi" Alicia said warmly. "I hope it's okay that I called. It's about Mr Standing?"

"Yeah, it's okay" he said briskly, eyeing Laura in the kitchen, rummaging around in the fridge. "How can I help you?"

"I've spoken to my client and he's not receptive to changing the book's title. I just thought you should know."

"Right. Well, maybe in the future you should just call me at work for this kind of thing."

"Oh. Right of course, I'm so sorry."

Will began to regret his harsh words when he heard the disappointment in Alicia's tone, but he knew he had a right to be abrasive. Alicia was trying to relieve some of her guilt with sweet phone calls, updating him on a case. But they were opponents now, not colleagues, and being so familiar with each other was a bad idea.

"It's just a little late, and I'm at home."

"No, I shouldn't have rung you on the mobile. I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"I'll let you go. Goodnight."

* * *

Alicia hung up quickly, stung by Will's words and ashamed by her moment of weakness.

_"What are you thinking?_ She thought, banging her phone against her forehead.

"Babe?" Peter called, opening the door to their bedroom. He kept a hand on the knob and the other braced against the doorframe. "Are you okay? You look stressed."

Alicia looked up from where she sat on the bed, dropping her hand to her lap. "It's fine, just work. What's up?"

"I'm headed out."

"Where? It's nine o'clock."

"Eli needs me to look over some things."

"He can't come here?"

"I dunno, I said I'd go to him. Is that all right? I can stay if you want."

"No, no it's fine. I'm sorry, I'm really tired."

"You should have a shower, get to bed early."

"Yeah, good idea."

"I'll see you later then" Peter said, shutting the door with a click.

Alicia looked down at the new diamond on her finger, the one Peter had given her when he asked to renew their vows. He hadn't kissed her goodbye and she wondered if that was a bad sign. They never spoke about making time for Hawaii. Peter was sleeping over at her apartment nearly every night now, sharing her bed and helping out with domestic chores. But Alicia felt a hole in her chest at night when Peter lay beside her, something that wasn't there when he was sleeping in his own place, away from her. They had been going well, getting along fine, but she felt something missing. Alicia shook her head, sick of her thoughts. She slipped the diamond from her finger, hiding it away in a draw.

* * *

"What is that?"

Alicia walked into her office with Cary close behind her, eyeing the enormous square package in brown paper.

"I'm not sure" she answered him, walking over and reading the card attached to it. "Oh my goodness."

"What?"

"It's a present from Colin Sweeney" Alicia said, handing Cary the card so that he could read the kind, although mildly inappropriate, words addressed to her. She ripped open the paper, revealing the back of a painting. "I'm scared to turn this over. Last time Sweeney gave me a present, I hid it in the back of my closet and never looked at it again."

"Well you have to turn it over" Cary said, shaking his head and putting the card down on her desk. "I won't be able to concentrate all day without knowing what it is."

Alicia laughed, picking up the canvas and shaking the loose bits of paper from the bottom. She turned it over to reveal a stunning oil painting of a pond; blues and greens and the pink of flowers all merging together, giving it the feel of a Monet. "It's beautiful."

"Yeah, pretty cool" Cary said, lightly touching the paint. "Where are you going to hang it?"

"Right here, above my desk."

"Really? It's from _Colin Sweeney_."

"And it's pretty" Alicia said girlishly, setting the canvas down and bundling up the rubbish.

"What happened with K. L. Standing?" Cary asked, heading towards the door.

"I'm working on him, trying to get him to settle. He doesn't quite understand what the implications of his Harry Potter fanfiction are. Robyn cross-referenced it with his published novels and found that the similarities are too great. He could easily be sued for all he's worth."

"Right, yeah. How's Robyn going do you think?"

"Good. She's no Kalinda, but she's pretty good."

"Yeah well, we need a Kalinda" Cary said in a low voice, spying Robyn through the windows of the conference room. "Lockhart/Gardner are winning more cases than us."

"They also have more clients and staff than us. We're doing okay."

"We need to be better than okay. We need to be the best."

"We will be" Alicia said, looking Cary straight in the eye, putting on her best calm and in control face. "We're still finding our feet, that's all."

Cary nodded, but Alicia could see the tightness of his mouth and the shadows under his eyes.

"You need to get some sleep Cary."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead" he answered, waving goodbye and heading out to court.

His words hit Alicia harder than intended. She had a momentary wonder at what her future looked like, if growing old with Peter was something she wanted. It wasn't really something she had thought too much about, but now that she was, Alicia felt the hole in her chest grow bigger and she didn't know what she could do to fill it.

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma, Kurt McVeigh, Laura Hellinger and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without it, my story would not exist.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Grace stood in the corner of the Fairmont Hotel ballroom, sipping from a glass of ice tea, waiting for Zach to come back from his search for food. She was surprised that she and her brother had even been invited to this fundraiser gala, usually their mum and dad went alone. But their dad said that they'd be welcome to attend, and even though Grace didn't really want to come, Zach convinced her to.

"Come on, we never get invited to these things" he urged her. "It might be fun."

It wasn't fun. They had been standing in the corner for an hour now, with only each other to talk to. Their mum had rushed out on some work emergency, no surprises there, and their dad was downing scotch and soda like there was no tomorrow.

Grace felt uncomfortable as she watched her dad speaking with a young blonde woman. He wasn't touching her, but she could see the interest in his eyes, the way he hung on to her words. She wished her mum was there.

"Here" Zach said, returning to their corner and handing her a plate. "Got you some cake."

"I want to go home."

"We don't have a car."

"Maybe we should just walk?"

"It's late, mum would freak if she found out. Which she would. It's not worth it."

"Is that Will Gardner?" Grace asked, pointing across the room to where Will stood with a pretty brown haired girl in a green evening gown.

"Yeah" Zach said, putting down his plate. "We should say hi."

"No way. Him and mum don't talk anymore."

"I thought you were happy about that."

"I am, it's just – it would be weird. For us to talk to him I mean."

"He's the one who got those votes in for dad on election night. You remember the way he questioned me on the stand? He was awesome."

"Yeah I know – but I still don't think we should do it."

"What's your problem?"

"Nothing. Fine, if you want to say hi, then say hi."

Zach walked across the room and put his hand out to Will, who shook it and smiled. Grace knew that Will and her mum didn't speak anymore because she left his firm. At least, that's what she'd been told. But Grace could also tell that there was more to it, because her mum had said she'd been attracted to him at one time. Although, that was four years ago now. And her parents were together, which is what Grace wanted. But they worked all the time and barely saw each other. She constantly saw her dad talking with other women, and her mum crying silently when she thought no one could see her. She wondered if she was wrong, thinking they'd all be happier so long as mum and dad didn't get divorced.

"How'd it go?" Grace asked when Zach returned, finishing her cake and putting the plate down.

"Yeah good, he's really nice."

"Do you think him and mum will ever be friends again?"

"I'm not sure, why?"

"I kind of hope they will be."

* * *

"Hey Will" Peter said, extending his hand cordially.

"Peter, good to see you" Will said, shaking his hand and nodding politely. "How's it feel to be Governor?"

"Pretty great. Listen, I was wondering if I could have a moment?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Why don't we step outside?"

Will followed Peter down the hall and out onto a balcony, where a few smokers were scattered. They walked over to the railing, out of earshot.

"About that surveillance video you showed me" Peter mumbled, looking from side to side, worried that someone might overhear them. "I've been receiving some anonymous messages which refer to fraudulent votes. I wanted to know if you knew anything about it."

"Not a thing. You were my client at the time I found the footage and I need to do what's best by you. I didn't show it to a judge either."

"But did you bury it?"

"No, I didn't" Will answered. He might have done Peter a favour by not taking the footage to any authority, but he wasn't going to stick his neck out so far as to bury it. "But no one will go looking for that footage Peter, they have no reason to. The only reason Kalinda found it is because we were looking into it for you."

"Kalinda knows about this?"

"Yes, why?"

"That's not good."

"Kalinda is my employee, she's bound to the same constraints of confidentiality."

"That's never stopped her before. If she wants that tape out, it'll get out."

"If she hasn't already done it, it won't happen" Will insisted, putting his hands in his pockets. "Is there anything else?"

"No that's it" Peter said, nodding politely and moving towards the door. "Thanks."

Will remained on the balcony as Peter returned inside, tugging at his bowtie which felt a little too tight. Peter was obviously troubled if he had come to Will for reassurance. He almost felt sorry for him, knowing that Peter had had no control over his campaign. There was something off about the whole election and Will believed, truly, that Peter had nothing to do with it. But if it got out that there was vote tampering, his political career would be done for. And that would be bad for Alicia too. Will didn't like Peter, but he didn't hate him either, and he didn't want Alicia to get hurt, despite everything.

"Will, there you are" Laura said from the doorway, walking up to join him. "What did Peter want?"

"He was just asking some questions about some work I did for him. You know, back when he was still my client."

"Right" Laura nodded, putting her arm through his and resting her chin on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine" Will gave her a kiss, smiling sweetly. "Let's go back inside."

* * *

Alicia scurried into the Fairmont reception area, dragging her coat from her shoulders and heading for the coat check. She was over an hour and a half late, but it couldn't be helped. Running her own firm had drawbacks, lack of time being the first. She wore a long black gown with her hair up, simple and neat. Moving into the ballroom, Alicia was immediately met with the sight of Will and Laura. They were dancing together, Laura wearing dark green and Will in his tux. Her heart skipped a beat, but she kept her face blank and went looking for Peter. She saw her children first, sulking in the corner and gave Zach her car keys to drive them both home. After a quick hello to Eli, and small talk with people she was too tired to impress, Alicia finally found her husband speaking with a tall blonde woman in white.

"Hello" Alicia said, coming to join them. She swept a glass of wine from a waiter's tray with skill and sipped. Peter didn't lean forward to kiss her, rather he gestured to the woman beside him

"Alicia, this is Claire."

"A pleasure Mrs. Florrick" Claire said in a soft, silken voice. "I understand that if I should find myself in any legal woes, I should report to you."

"Yes, Alicia and her partner Cary run the eighth largest firm in Chicago" Peter said, smiling his politician smile. "Where is Cary?"

"He's coming, we had some trouble with a client and were held up" Alicia explained. "Please excuse me, I'm just going to freshen up."

Alicia worked her way through the ballroom, keeping her eyes locked straight ahead, refusing to let them stray to the dance area. She saw Diane talking with Kurt across the room, they were laughing and holding hands. Instead of looking for a bathroom, Alicia headed outside onto a balcony where she could think, if just for a moment. She took a deep breath and a sip of wine, grateful for the cool air on her warm face. Seeing Will with Laura had been a shock, although she shouldn't have been surprised. With Alicia out of the picture, there was nothing for the young Defence Attorney to worry about. It wouldn't have shaken her so much if Peter had given her a kiss hello, or something. At least, she told herself that. But at the end of the night, when she hadn't spoken a word to Will; when she found herself getting into a taxi with a happily drunken Peter, and Will was getting into a car with Laura; Alicia couldn't help but feel that something was awfully wrong, and she was driving in the wrong direction, even though she ended up at home.

* * *

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma, Kurt McVeigh, Laura Hellinger and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without it, my story would not exist.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

As Will climbed into the taxi with Laura, he saw Alicia from the corner of his eye. When she had walked into the ballroom, he'd lost his breath for a moment, surprised that he had forgotten how beautiful she was. And now she was heading home with Peter, her husband who could barely stand straight, he'd had that much to drink. Will would be drinking too if he was worried about being exposed as a fraud.

As he lay in bed to fall asleep, Will felt the guilt crash into him at full pelt, when he realised that the woman sleeping soundly beside him was Laura but his thoughts were filled with images of Alicia. Her brown hair falling over her face when she bent over paperwork, how she bit her lip when she was worried about something, the shade of red she wore on her lips. Will didn't know nearly as many fine details about Laura as he did about Alicia. He didn't know anyone in the world like he knew her.

* * *

Alicia ran into the police station, struggling to carry her bag and files and laptop. This was the last thing she wanted to be doing on a Saturday. She stumbled forward and nearly tripped, but there was a strong hand to keep her upright.

"Alicia?" Will remarked, taking her laptop. "Let me help you."

"Oh. Thanks" she replied, out of breath.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for a client, Jimmy Collins."

"Ah" Will sighed, "I'm here for Sean Groves."

Jimmy Collins was the son of Richard Collins, one of Florrick/Agos top priority clients. His son, Jimmy, had been arrested just an hour before and was being questioned for the murders of two security guards, after a house party went out of control. His friend, Sean Groves, had also been arrested, and the two boys would most likely be forced to turn on each other. Making Will and Alicia opponents. Again.

"This won't get any easier, will it?"

"No" Will shook his head.

They were led into separate rooms, to question their clients. Neither would testify against the other, and Alicia began to get the feeling that Jimmy and Sean were more than just friends. Suddenly, Alicia heard gunshots just outside her door and ran to take a look outside. Will stood just ahead of her, at the doorway across from hers. An officer ran towards them, brandishing handcuffs.

"What's going on?" Alicia asked.

"There's been a shooting just outside the station, ma'am I'm going to need to put your client in custody."

"He's already in custody."

"I need to put him in a cell, just as a precaution. Your client too." He nodded to Will.

"When can we see them?" Will asked, shaking his head slightly, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure, Sir. We're going to need you both to stay here as well."

"What? Why?"

"There's still a lot of confusion outside, we think there's another gunman. We can't let you leave the premises. You're welcome to remain in these rooms here and make full use of the facilities, kitchen is over there and restrooms are that way. Now, excuse me please."

Once her client had been removed, Alicia made herself a cup of coffee and sat down in the interrogation room. Luckily she had brought extra work with her, she always did in case there was a spare moment. So she spread out the paperwork in front of her and began going through contracts for Mr. Sweeney.

"Hey."

Looking up, she saw Will standing in the doorway, briefcase and coat in hand.

"They needed the other room for something" he said, stepping a little further into the room. "Do you mind if we share?"

"No, not at all" Alicia replied as she moved some of her paperwork aside, making room for Will at the table.

They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, but Alicia didn't mind so much. She was glad that Will could at least stomach being in the same room with her, and he seemed cordial enough. The air of hostility between them had ebbed into awkwardness, which was preferable.

"Hypothetically" Will spoke, taking out a notepad. "If I had a client who was unwilling to settle on a divorce case, because they wanted to cause their spouse as much pain as possible; how would you…calm them down?"

Alicia was surprised that Will was asking her advice, but maybe he was just trying to make conversation.

"Well, is it a man or a woman?" Alicia asked, giving Will her full attention.

"Woman."

"Does she relate better to males or females? If she relates better to women, I would get Gretel Stevenson to hand hold her, she went through a divorce two years back."

"And if she relates better to men?"

"Then you should take it" Alicia smiled. "Just explain, very calmly, how she'd do better to settle, even if you've told her that before. Sit her down with a cup of tea and go through it with her."

"Thanks" Will remarked, looking down at his paperwork and making some notes.

"How come you're on a divorce case?"

"High profile client, I'm helping out David Lee."

Alicia nodded, knowing it was rude to ask anymore. But she was still so curious about what was happening at Lockhart/Gardner, and she wanted to keep talking with Will. It was the first amicable conversation they'd had in months.

"Hypothetically" she began, taking Will's lead on asking advice. "If I were to try a murder case in front of Judge Bryant, how would I best make my argument?"

"Pro bono?"

"Yes, Caucasian woman aged thirty-four."

"That works in your favour, Bryant is more sympathetic to people of low socio-economic standing. She has little patience for wealthy wrong doers."

"Great, thanks" Alicia smiled, making a note on some scrap paper.

Will looked up, catching her eye. "How's it going at Florrick/Agos?"

"Good, hard work though."

"Yeah, it's not easy at the top."

Alicia wanted to say something stupid, but held her tongue. Then she realised that this sort of opportunity may never happen again, and she wanted Will to know that he still meant something to her. She wondered if that was selfish; concluded that it probably was, but said it anyway.

"I miss working with you."

Will stopped writing, his pen hovering above the page. He looked up, "Yeah, I miss working with you. We made a good team."

"We did" Alicia agreed, putting her pen down and sitting back in her chair, contemplating the man sitting in front of her. He had so much boyish charm.

Alicia wanted to say more, but an officer opened the door and told them they were free to go. They didn't have the man power to supervise anymore interrogation of their clients for the moment, so they would have to come back tomorrow. Will stood up immediately, grabbing his things, and the moment was gone. Better that way, Alicia thought, otherwise she would have said something worse than _I miss working with you_. Something like _I miss you_.

"See you tomorrow then I guess" Will remarked over his shoulder, heading towards the door. "Have a good night."

"You too" Alicia replied, a little forlornly as he left.

* * *

Once home, Alicia found dishes sprawled all over the kitchen and papers all over the living room.

"Zach!" she called, "Grace! This place is an absolute mess, come and clean it up!"

"Sorry" Grace answered, rushing into the kitchen and getting to work, stacking the dishwasher. "I meant to do it earlier, I forgot."

"Where's your brother?"

"In his room."

"Zach!"

"Yeah, yeah" Zach muttered, rubbing his eyes as he walked out into the kitchen. "Sorry, I was sleeping."

"Is that your stuff all over the living room?"

"I'll clean it up now."

"Where's your father?"

"I dunno, he's been gone all day" Grace answered, bending over the dishwasher.

"What? Did he say where he was going?"

"To see Eli I think."

"He's seeing an awful lot of Eli lately, do you know why?"

"Nope."

Alicia felt her annoyance build tenfold. Peter had been out 'seeing Eli' four times this week, when he was supposed to be home. She picked up her phone, tried calling him, but no answer. Pouring herself a glass of wine, Alicia went to the now clean couch and curled up. She took out her pro bono case, looking over the files, and absentmindedly let her thoughts stray to Will.

When Peter finally arrived home, in the late hours of the night, Alicia was furious. Peter avoided her questions, couldn't understand why she was upset, he was the Governor for God's sake. For the first time in a month, Peter went home to sleep back in his house and Alicia remained at the apartment with only a glass of wine to take to bed with her.

* * *

**Authors note:**

Thank you for all the lovely reviews! They are much appreciated, you're all beautiful people :)

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma, Kurt McVeigh, Laura Hellinger and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without it, my story would not exist.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

At the time, it had felt good. Good to talk to her the way they used to, as if they were friends and colleagues, even if it had been forced. But as soon as he got home, Will realised what he had done. This was a woman who had kissed him one night and left him for broke the next. She chose another man and then stole a host of his clients, top priority clients at that, along with some of his best and talented lawyers. That included herself. Lockhart/Gardner had been struggling to heal their wounds ever since; they still walked with a limp, while Alicia and Cary's firm stood tall like a rampant lion.

Walking through the door, Will walked straight for his bottle of whiskey, downed a glass and then threw it across the wall. He let her do this to him, soften him up with kind words, make him think that what she had done wasn't so bad.

He didn't know what to do. Luckily, Kalinda did.

"So your client, Sean Groves" she said one morning, walking into his office without so much as a knock. Kalinda had earned that privilege. "I have something that may clear his name, but it involves some – un-sportsman like behaviour."

"I'm listening" Will remarked moodily, not bothering to look up from his desk.

When Kalinda told him her plan, he took a moment to think about it. If he agreed to it, Alicia would be made to look bad. Really bad. And Will thought it was about time she had a taste of what it was like to feel kicked while you were down.

"Okay" he said, lifting his chin confidently. "Let's do this."

* * *

Kalinda found her link to the State's Attorney's office through Laura. Of course, if Laura knew what she and Will were up to, she'd be furious. So Kalinda didn't mention that the work was for Will, or precisely what she was doing there.

When she saw Robyn walking through the door, Kalinda smiled, taking out the piece of paper she needed.

"Oh no" she said, feigning disappointment. "This is bad."

"What is it?" Laura asked, having no idea that she was helping Kalinda to bait Robyn.

"Well, this GPS record is from Jimmy's car. It shows that he wasn't near the crime scene at twelve o' three am, the time of the murders. But it doesn't account for Sean."

"Well, you know the deal, whichever one of them comes forward first to testify against the other will be better off."

"Yeah, thanks" Kalinda said.

"Who's the lawyer in charge?" Laura asked curiously.

"I think they're shuffling people around, most likely it'll be Will."

"Well, it's not like I haven't faced him in court before. Thanks Kalinda."

"No worries."

Kalinda left, being sure not to make eye contact with Robyn, who was trying to make herself look inconspicuous in a corner.

Too easy.

* * *

"Objection" Laura snapped, standing up from the prosecution table.

"Your honour" Alicia spoke in a loud, clear voice, "the police's own investigation reflects that Jimmy's GPS was active and shows that he was five miles from the crime scene at the time of the murder."

"Yes, Jimmy's GPS did reflect that your honour" Laura acknowledged. "But that does not mean that Jimmy was driving."

"Jimmy" Alicia said, looking at him where he stood on the witness stand. "Were you driving your car at twelve o' three on that Friday morning, after you left the party?"

"Yes" Jimmy stammered. "Yes, I was."

"And was Sean Groves with you at this time?"

"No."

"When was the last time you'd seen Sean?"

"Back at the party, around twelve thirty."

"No further questions."

"Mr. Collins" Laura said, moving forward to question the witness. "Do you know what perjury is?"

"Ye – yes?"

"So, I'm going to ask you again. Were you driving your car at twelve o' three am, the time of the murder?"

"Yes."

"Hmm" Laura said, moving over to her desk and picking up a piece of paper. "Your honour, I would like to admit this piece of evidence into the record. It is the surveillance footage from an ATM, five miles from the crime scene, with a picture of Sean Groves withdrawing money at twelve o' two am. Behind him is the picture of a car, Jimmy Collins car in fact. The number plate is partially visible, and is of the same make and model as Jimmy's."

Alicia turned to see the wide grins on Will and Kalinda's faces, immediately feeling sick and requested a recess.

* * *

"This has Kalinda written all over it" Cary said, pacing in front of Alicia's desk. "You realise this was the same trick I played on you back in the State's Attorney's office? The Simon Greenberg murder, I had your client Jamal admit that he was driving the car seen speeding away from the crime scene?"

"Yes, thank you so much for reminding me" Alicia fumed from her desk chair. "I may as well not even call myself a lawyer."

"This wasn't your fault, they played it well" Cary said, stroking his chin.

"You think Will was in on it?"

"Of course he was, come on."

"You're right. I just thought, that we had gotten past this a little. He was so pleasant when I saw him in the police station."

"He was playing you."

"Yeah" Alicia sighed, rubbing her forehead. Her headache was getting worse. "Well, we know their client didn't do it."

"That isn't the point. The point is we lost Richard Collins business, and you know who's representing him and his company now?"

"No, don't tell me –"

"Lockhart/Gardner. Say goodbye to eighteen million a year."

"His son did it."

"Well, he's spending the next forty five years in jail with no parole, so it had better of been him. Damn, they made us look like idiots."

"They made me look like an idiot, not you."

"I mean the firm. I think I'd better have a talk with Robyn."

"We can't fire her Cary, she made a mistake."

"A pretty crucial mistake. I won't fire her, I'll just talk to her."

"Okay. Don't be too hard."

When Cary left, Alicia picked up her phone and dialled.

* * *

Will poured two glasses of whiskey, one for him and one for Kalinda.

"Good job" he said, clinking her glass. "You've taken a liking to whiskey I see."

"So long as it's your whiskey, yeah" Kalinda replied, downing it in one go. "The only spirit I spend my money on is tequila."

The phone on Will's desk rang and Kalinda waved goodbye.

"Hello?"

"Will, it's Alicia. I'm glad I still caught you, office hours and all."

"Yeah it's still office hours. Tough break in court today."

"Oh, don't give me that. You set this up."

"Set what up?" Will responded, as nonchalant as he could muster.

"The GPS, you made sure Kalinda was there to point it out to Robyn."

"Is that what she did? Just point it out?"

Alicia sighed on the other end of the line. "Is this how it's going to be?" she asked. "Playing these games?"

"The law is a game Alicia. You either play, or you don't. It's up to you. But you don't whinge and whine."

"Is that what I'm doing?"

"It is actually, do you hear yourself? Why did you call Alicia, what's the real reason? To get me to admit that I played you?"

"No, I – I guess." She was silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "I wanted to say congratulations. You played this smart."

"Thank you" Will replied, a little surprised.

"Well, until next time."

"Until next time."

Will hung up, the joy of his victory dissipating and leaving him feeling hollow and alone.

* * *

**Authors Note:** As always, thank you for the kind reviews :)

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma, Kurt McVeigh, Laura Hellinger and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without it, my story would not exist.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Walking through the front door, Alicia gave a yelp as she walked into someone's broad shoulders head on.

"Oh, Cristian, you scared me" Alicia laughed, putting down her bags by the front door. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"Oh yes, Peter invited Jackie and I over for dinner" Cristian said, smiling brightly.

"Did he?" Alicia suppressed a groan; she really wasn't in the mood for entertaining.

They had lost three clients this week, not major ones, but two had left for Lockhart/Gardner. Her firm was no longer the shiny new thing, and Alicia was coming to terms with the downside of being management. Walking into the kitchen, she saw Peter give her a sarcastic smile and lifted his glass of wine, taking a long drink. He hadn't said anything to her, but Alicia knew that her husband didn't like Cristian anymore. And she had to admit, there was something not quite right about him.

Peter poured Alicia a glass of wine, while she kissed her children hello.

"Well, now that you're all here" Jackie announced, walking into the kitchen and placing a hesitant hand on the bench. "I have something to tell you. Cristian and I are going on a cruise!"

"What?" Peter fumed, drowned out by the excited chatter of Zach and Grace.

"That's awesome Grandma" Zach enthused.

"Where abouts are you going?" Grace asked.

Alicia glanced sideways, taking in Peter's furious gaze, staring daggers into Cristian. There was more to this story than she knew.

"Who's paying for this exactly?" Peter asked, swallowing the rest of his wine and pouring a fresh glass.

"Oh, Peter" Jackie muttered in annoyance.

"I've recently come into some money of my own, actually" Cristian said, raising a bemused eyebrow. "So the trip is on me. A thank you to Jackie for being such a good patient. The warmer weather will be good for her."

Peter excused himself from the room and Alicia followed, while Jackie prattled on excitedly to the kids and Cristian looked on. Once inside their bedroom, Alicia shut the door behind her and waited for an explanation.

* * *

"Twenty-five thousand dollars?" Alicia repeated, enunciating each word. "He just said thank you?"

"Yes" Peter said, pacing along the length of the room. Recounting Cristian's past criminal behaviour, and the smooth way he had manipulated Peter out of twenty-five thousand dollars (a mistake Peter admitted to be his own), made her husband clench his fists and breathe like a bull waiting to charge. Alicia sat on the bed, cupping her glass with both hands.

"Oh Peter, this is bad."

"Tell me about it."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Threats and money haven't worked so far."

"You need a bigger threat."

"Yeah. But Jim Moody has already looked into his past; he found minor felonies, but nothing major. I don't have much to work with."

"You need Kalinda" Alicia shrugged, stating the obvious truth.

"She won't work for me."

"Get Eli to ask."

"It won't work, he's tried that before" Peter paused, looking down at his wife. "You could ask."

"Kalinda hates me more than she hates you."

"I don't think that's true."

"It is, believe me" Alicia assured him. "She hasn't spoken a word to me since I left Lockhart/Gardner, all I get is a few snide glances and raised eyebrows."

"Right, of course" Peter sighed, sitting down next to her and taking her hand. "So what do I do?"

"Let me think about it" Alicia said, squeezing his hand. "We should get back out there. Put on a brave face until we can make a plan. He'll know we're talking about him."

"You're right, thank you" Peter said sincerely, kissing her chastely on the mouth and exiting the room.

Alicia felt a shiver run from the top of her neck to the small of her back, wishing that Peter would come back and kiss her properly.

* * *

"Kalinda."

Kalinda paused, swivelling slowly on her heels, raising an eyebrow in greeting. Alicia smiled sweetly, tucking her hands inside her pockets. It was a particularly cold morning outside the courthouse, and Kalinda was keen to get back to the warmth of her office.

"I was wondering if we could talk?" Alicia asked, squinting from the glare of the overcast sky.

"So talk" Kalinda shrugged.

"In there maybe?" Alicia pointed to a nearby café. "It's freezing."

"Sure, if you like" Kalinda said, marching towards the sliding doors without a backwards glance.

She sat down at one of the tables and Alicia joined her, after ordering and paying for two coffees.

"You want something, don't you?" Kalinda got right to the point.

"Yes" Alicia replied bluntly, truthfully.

Kalinda couldn't help smirking. She had always liked Alicia's honesty, it was a rare sort of bravery. "What is it?"

"This is difficult for me" Alicia began slowly, making sure she said this properly. "I wouldn't ask if it weren't important."

Kalinda said nothing, waiting for her to go on.

"Peter's mother, Jackie, she has this caretaker, Cristian Romano. We think that he's using her for financial gain. Peter offered him twenty-five thousand dollars to leave her alone. Cristian took the money and pretended it was a gift; so now we're out of pocket and he's still hanging around."

"Why don't you just speak to Peter's mother?"

"He's tried, she won't listen. I think she's a little – in love with him."

"Look, Alicia" Kalinda said hesitantly, shaking her head. "I can't help you with this. I've offered my services exclusively to Lockhart/Gardner. If you want my help, you'll have to talk to Will."

"Talk to Will? Is that even worth a try?"

"Anything's worth a try."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Talk to Will" Kalinda urged, getting up to leave. "You said it was important, so talk to him."

She left without another word, her coffee half drunk. Alicia shook her head, bewildered. Kalinda had half agreed to help her, which was more than she had expected. But maybe it was just some ploy to get her to talk to Will.

Well, it worked.

Alicia jumped up, rushing out the door to stop Kalinda. If she was going to talk to Will, she needed to do it in person; and she would need Kalinda to get through the Lockhart/Gardner doors.

* * *

"Visitor for you" Kalinda chimed, knocking on Will's door.

When he looked up and saw his investigator, clad in tartan and leather, it took him a second before his eyes strayed to where Alicia stood behind her.

"You've redecorated" she said as a way of greeting, standing just outside his door, unwilling to walk in uninvited.

Will stood up, looking a little more than bewildered, shaking his head. "Alicia, uh – this is a surprise."

"Yes, I'm so sorry to just drop in on you."

"Come in" he said, walking behind her and shutting the door, with a 'thank you Kalinda'.

Alicia avoided the seat that she had sat on the last time she was in Will's office. She chose the couch instead, and Will sat across from her, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

"What's wrong?" he asked kindly, softly. Alicia hadn't been expecting that. Will must have realised how shaken up she was; it caught her off guard and she stumbled over her words a little, so she got right to the point and explained her predicament with Cristian.

"Kalinda's the best at what she does. And this is personal, not professional. I wouldn't ask if it weren't so important."

"No, of course, I understand" Will replied, rolling his baseball absentmindedly between his palms. "I'll have Kalinda look into it."

"Will, I – thank you" Alicia said, letting her face soften with gratitude. "I don't know what to say, I thought you'd be…reluctant."

"If you're coming to me for help, you must be pretty worried" Will shrugged, looking down at his baseball rather than at Alicia. "And like you said, this is personal. Your family's safety matters more than whatever problems we have with each other."

Alicia was lost for words. She looked at him miserably, willing him to look at her. When he did, his eyes were clear and kind, but also sad.

"So you'll let me know?" she said, breaking the silence and getting up to leave.

"I'll let you know" Will replied, nodding and letting her go.

* * *

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma, Kurt McVeigh, Laura Hellinger and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without it, my story would not exist.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Will was confused. One minute he was angry as hell, wanting to take down Florrick, Agos and Associates, and Alicia with it. The next minute he was worried about her, wanting to do everything he could to make sure she was okay. His conflicted feelings were taking their toll.

"You look tired" Laura mentioned, walking past him to the fridge.

Will stood at the kitchen bench, sipping from a beer bottle. Subconsciously he knew that Alicia was manipulating him emotionally, but he also knew that she didn't mean to. She wouldn't have come to him about Cristian if it weren't really important, and it was. Besides, he took a guilty pleasure in the fact that she came to him for help; even if it was Kalinda that she was really after.

Will shook his head, tossing his jumble of thoughts aside.

"Yeah" he replied to Laura, looking at her over his shoulder.

"Tough day?"

"No, just long" Will said, taking another swig of beer.

"Are you okay?" she asked, coming up next to him and laying a hand on his arm. "You seem really distracted lately."

"It's just work."

"Will – you can talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about" he said dismissively, walking over to the fridge, just as an excuse to move away from her. Will knew that he was being unfair, but if he were to speak his mind that would involve talking about Alicia, which would just make Laura pissed.

Which didn't matter, in the end, because his attitude was enough to put her off.

"Fine" Laura said, moving into the lounge room and picking up her jeans from the floor. She put them on. "I think I'm gonna go home."

"Oh, come on" Will sighed, throwing back his head, fed up with the pointless arguments he always seemed to find himself in with her. "I'm sorry."

"You're not."

"I am, really" he said in his best sincere voice.

"I'm just going to call it a night, okay?" Laura said, picking up her handbag and kissing Will on the cheek. "Call me tomorrow?"

"Sure" Will said, resigned to spending the night sleeping alone.

* * *

"What's that?" Will asked, confused to see Diane on her office floor amongst a confetti of white paper.

"Seating charts" Diane remarked, keeping her eyes focused on the floor. "For the wedding."

"Am I invited?" Will asked, looking over her shoulder for his name tag.

"Only if you're good" Diane joked, standing up. "Actually I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

"Well, Kurt and I need one witness each, and I was wondering if you would be mine."

"You want me to be your maid of honour?"

"Yes. I was thinking a high necked gown of gold brocade, it would go beautifully with your eyes."

"Diane, I –" Will was lost for words. "I'd love to."

Walking forward to give her a kiss on the cheek, Will smiled. "I'm happy for you" he said.

"Thank you" Diane replied, as Kalinda walked in.

"Got something for you" she told Will, holding up a yellow envelope.

Will squeezed Diane's arm and followed Kalinda into his office, shutting the door behind him.

"So, this work I'm doing for Alicia, on Cristian Romano" Kalinda began, taking a seat at Will's desk. "Do I clear it with you first?"

"You can probably just go straight to Alicia with it" he said, taking a seat opposite the dark haired investigator. "I don't want to pry."

"Trust me, you want to pry" Kalinda insisted. "This man is dangerous."

"How so?" Will asked, his voice low and serious.

"He's on the run from a Cuban drug lord, Hector Rini. If Cristian is found, Rini isn't the sort of man to care about casualties. He's actually quite the fan of killing his enemies with open fire in public places."

"Have any of these incidents happened in America?"

"No" Kalinda admitted. "But there's a first time for everything, and it seems like Cristian owes Rini a substantial amount of money."

"Do we have any sort of evidence to persuade Cristian into leaving town?"

"Not yet, I'm working on it."

"Okay, keep going" Will said, picking up his mobile. "I'll ring Alicia and tell her what you found out, thanks Kalinda."

* * *

It felt wrong, manipulating Alicia into hiring Kalinda for him. But as Peter kept telling himself, it was for the safety of his family, not his career. Alicia had come to him with some preliminary information that Kalinda had dug up on Cristian, but it wasn't enough. They needed more.

Peter ran a hand through his hair, sipping from a glass of scotch and reading over some paperwork. He sat in companionable silence with Eli, who was working on some crisis management for a client. Something to do with chicken, Peter wasn't really listening. His phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Florrick, hello, this is Claire Hammond" said a soft, sultry voice. "We met at the Fairmont Hotel? For the Harbor Hospital Fundraiser Gala?"

"Claire, of course" Peter smiled, remembering her blonde hair and white dress. Eli looked up from his paperwork, curious. "You were going to get back to me."

"I was, sorry it took me so long. I was wondering if we could meet?"

"Yeah, that'd be great. Just tell me when and where."

* * *

Being First Lady of Illinois wasn't everything it was cracked up to be. Alicia was exhausted. When she made a list of all her responsibilities in her head, she realised that her participation in Peter's career was at the bottom. Alicia loved her children more than anything, and although it was gratingly hard work, her job made her happy too. But the interviews and press conferences and other First Lady duties just weren't enjoyable anymore. It wasn't worth the stress. And if Peter went on a presidential campaign, like Eli was pushing him to, Alicia wasn't so sure that she could handle it.

"Where've you been?" Alicia asked Peter as he walked through the bedroom door.

"Babe, you're still awake?" he asked, crawling onto the bed and kissing her.

"I waited up."

"You didn't have to do that" Peter said, getting undressed.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

"Are you…playing by the rules?" Alicia asked hesitantly, hoping Peter wouldn't try to skirt his way around answering her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you clean? I've been hearing some things, about the campaign."

"From who? Will?" Peter said his name in a guttural tone, always so quick to jump to Will as a conclusion.

"No, actually" Alicia replied truthfully, frowning in annoyance. "Cary did."

"Cary?"

"He's been hearing things from his friends at the State's Attorney's office, so has Robyn" Alicia went on. "He came to me this afternoon, to give me a heads up. I wanted to ask you if there was any truth to it."

Peter took a moment, thinking. Weighing up whether it was better to tell the truth or not.

"I'm clean" Peter replied, unable to look her into her eyes as he lied. "There are rumours after every campaign Alicia, it's nothing. Let's just focus on dealing with Cristian for now, okay?"

"Okay" Alicia sighed, suddenly aware of how tired she was. "You're right. Good night."

Alicia snuggled down under the bed covers and turned over, facing away from Peter. It was a while before she got to sleep, and when she did, it was restless.

* * *

**Authors note:**

I'm sorry that this chapter was a bit choppy - I usually try to keep to one plot thread per chapter, but there were just a few things I needed to get across before the next chapter, which is quite an important one! The ideas are also starting to merge and get more complicated, so I'm navigating my way through them as best I can. I hope you still liked it and, as always, thank you for all the kind reviews, I appreciate them greatly :)

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma, Kurt McVeigh, Laura Hellinger and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without it, my story would not exist.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"Ring Alicia"

"I'm not ringing Alicia."

"She's the only one who can help you" Kalinda insisted, trying to tug Will's mobile phone from his hand and dial the number for him.

"She won't help me."

"She will, she owes you."

"Kalinda, stop – no."

"Stubborn jackass."

"I heard that" Will shouted over his shoulder as he strode away, slamming his office door closed and sitting behind his desk, rolling his baseball between his hands.

He needed to think. Laura had rung him half an hour ago with a threat from the new State's Attorney, Jason Delahunty. They were investigating him for the leak of a deposition taking place in the Lockhart/Gardner conference room a week before. After questioning Delahunty about burying evidence, Will was now being accused of leaking it in order to influence a jury. Lockhart/Gardner's case against the State had just been cleared to go to trial and Delahunty was playing dirty.

Will's client, Annabelle Stevenson, was the daughter of Brian Stevenson who was wrongfully accused of murder and sentenced to forty-five years, no parole. He was jumped and killed by another inmate, three days after new evidence had come in to convict the real killer.

Delahunty, working under Glen Childs at the time of Stevenson's conviction, had been the lawyer in charge of the prosecution. So Will had deposed him, questioned him about burying evidence, and the audio recording was leaked one week later. Laura had rung to give him a heads up. They were coming for him.

A leaked deposition was nothing that hadn't happened before. But Will was standing on precarious ground when it came to his career, half of Chicago still believed the rumours that he bribed judges. If they thought he was leaking depositions, then no one would want to hire him again. This needed to go away, and fast.

Kalinda threw open the door and lay her hands flat on his desk, leaning over him.

"Call Alicia."

"You're wrong, she isn't the only one who can help me."

"She's the only one who can do it quickly."

"What if she won't help?"

"Please" Kalinda scoffed, taking her own phone out of her pocket. "I'm going to ring her."

Will didn't try to stop her.

* * *

"Alicia Florrick for Jason Delahunty please."

"Mrs. Florrick" Jason said, stepping out of his office and greeting the First Lady of Illinois. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Jason, hello" Alicia said, smiling her fake wifely smile. Delahunty gave her the creeps. "I wonder if I could have a moment?"

"Please" he said, gesturing toward his office, closing the doors behind him.

"About this investigation into Will Gardner, the leaked deposition?"

"What about it?"

"I have been informed that you know of Mr. Gardner's innocence, that you know who really leaked the deposition, and yet you're investigating him anyway?"

"Mrs. Florrick, I don't think –"

"Let me make myself very clear" Alicia said, standing tall and looking him straight in the eye (which wasn't easy, he was at least a foot shorter than her). "If you don't make this investigation go away, an investigation that is wrong and unethical on so many levels, I will personally inform your wife of the sort of relationship you have with your housekeeper."

"I don't respond well to threats" Jason snarled, clenching his hands into fists. "I can make like very difficult for you, I'm the State's Attorney."

"And I'm the wife of the Governor of Illinois. Also, I get the feeling you won't be in office very long Mr. Delahunty. Have a nice day."

Before he could say any more, Alicia spun on her heel and walked out his door.

* * *

"Alicia, hi."

Looking up, she saw Will standing in the doorway of her office, holding a bottle of wine. He held it up and walked forward into the room.

"A thank you gift."

"Oh, Will you didn't need to do that."

"It's the very least I could do. Alicia, I – can't thank you enough for what you did. You really saved me today."

Alicia stood up and came around her desk to accept the bottle. She smiled and took it, admiring the label. He still remembered her favourite bottle of red wine, and it wasn't cheap.

"I'm just sorry that you didn't think you could come to me" she whispered quietly, tearing up a little. "How did we get to this? I never want you to think that you can't come to me for help."

"I didn't want to put you in a difficult situation."

"You wouldn't have been. Thank God for Kalinda. If she hadn't rung –"

"Tell me about it. I don't even want to think about what could have happened."

"Listen" Alicia said, putting down the bottle and stepping closer to Will. "Don't ever hold back again, okay? If you need help, I want to know."

"Okay" Will whispered, looking her in the eye and then lowering his gaze. "Same goes for you, if you need anything. Because I certainly owe you one."

"No you don't, you helped me out with Cristian."

"Yeah, but Kalinda hasn't found any evidence yet."

"Will, it's okay. I wanted to help because you're my friend."

"Am I?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets and cocking his head to the side.

"Yes" Alicia insisted, resting her hands on his upper arms to reassure him. "You're my oldest friend. For a while there you were my best friend. I screwed that up and I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. What you've achieved is incredible. Now, I'm still angry at you" he said jokingly, pointing a finger and wagging it playfully; but Alicia could feel the hurt and sadness beneath his tone. "But I think I finally understand why you left."

"It's not because I didn't care about you. It's because I cared too much, and I didn't know what else to do. We couldn't pursue our feelings for one another."

"So you had to run in the other direction, I know" Will acknowledged, nodding his head in agreement. "Acting on it would have been stupid."

"Yes" Alicia agreed, dropping her hands from his arms and clasping them in front of her, suddenly aware of how close she was standing to Will. But she didn't want to step away.

"Are you happy?" he asked.

Alicia looked up at him, her face falling when she felt the sincerity of his question. He really wanted to know, to be sure that she was happy in her decision not to be with him. This realisation, that Will still cared so much despite everything, is what made her reach out. She placed her palms softly on either side of his face, holding him steady as she leant forward and kissed him carefully on the mouth.

Will immediately put his own hands on her waist, circling his arms around her back and pressed his mouth harder on hers. He held her close and kissed her sweetly, again and again. Pulling back, Will looked at her with his eyes open.

"Is this how it's always going to be?" he whispered, touching his forehead to hers. "Every few months, letting our guard down and stealing kisses when we know we shouldn't?"

"I want to say 'no', but I want to know exactly what that would mean" Alicia whispered back. "Because if I say 'no' and I never get to kiss you again, I'm not so sure I could live with that."

"Is there another sort of 'no'?"

"Yes. I could say 'no', because instead of stealing kisses every few months, we could steal them everyday."

"Alicia?"

"I'm sorry" she said, horrified by her own words. "I'm so sorry Will, I shouldn't have –"

"It's okay" he said, refusing to let her run away from him. He held her tightly and willed her not to pull away. She wrapped her arms around Will's neck and hugged him tightly, feeling the tears on her cheeks rub into his suit jacket. "I'm not going to try and convince you of anything, or tell you what to do" he went on. "But the fact is Alicia, we've had these feelings between us since the day we met. They've never faded or remained under control, because we keep finding our way back to each other, one way or another. Last year it was after that mock trial, a few months ago it was in my car on election night, and now. No matter how much we try to avoid, dismiss, run away from these feelings, they keep insisting to be felt."

Alicia nodded, finding her breathing had become shallow as her heart thrummed harder between her lungs.

"But I know how much you love your kids and your career, I'd never want to put that in jeopardy. Just know that if you ever change your mind, you come and tell me. I need you to tell me. Because I'll have you in my head for the rest of my life."

"How do you know that?"

"I haven't been able to get you out of my head these last twenty years. Something tells me that won't change now."

Alicia laughed, his words were so sweet and loving. She stepped back and looked at Will's face, taking pleasure in how he looked when his guard was down. He looked younger, reminding her of the boy she loved at Georgetown.

"No need to decide anything now" Will said, relinquishing his grip on her unwillingly. "Just think about it. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay."

"And feel free to ring me on the mobile, even outside of business hours."

"Okay" Alicia laughed again, lifting her hand to wave goodbye, hating to see him go.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

I may have left Alicia and Will too happy at the end of this chapter, but I feel like every time they kiss in the show, Alicia has a freak out, and I wanted her to be okay with it for once! Thanks again for the lovely reviews, you guys are champs :)

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma, Kurt McVeigh, Laura Hellinger and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without it, my story would not exist.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"What was Will doing here?"

Cary broke Alicia's reverie, her fingers still touching the lips where Will just kissed her.

"Huh?" she said, remembering where she was. "Oh, I helped him out with something today; he was dropping off this bottle of wine as a thank you."

"That's awfully friendly" Cary said, walking forward and admiring the label. "Things are better between you two then?"

"Getting there" Alicia nodded, reaching for some paperwork. "What time is it?"

"Just after six" Cary said, "look I'm just going to put this stuff down, then I'll come back and we'll look over those resumes?"

"Yeah, sounds good" Alicia said, silently kicking herself for kissing Will when so many people were around and could have seen them. Luckily, her office was partially closed off and no one could see them unless they walked past the front. She hadn't seen anyone, but then, she was distracted.

* * *

"Eli, I want you to meet Claire" Peter said, gesturing to the tall blonde woman beside him.

Eli raised a quizzical brow and shook her hand, uncertain of why Peter had brought her to his office. After the separation of Alicia from Lockhart/Gardner, it had been difficult for Eli to stay. But, after some persuasion from Diane (who made him feel guilty after they took her judgeship away), he had decided to stay.

"She's the image consultant I was talking about" Peter explained.

"Oh, of course" Eli said, his eyes lighting up.

When Peter had mentioned meeting the blonde image consultant at the hospital charity gala, Eli had been confused and, he'd admit, slightly jealous. But, as Peter explained, Eli was best as a wartime consultant, whereas Claire specialised in the downtime. Peter was Governor, he was cruising along, and he wanted to hire Claire to deal with the boring stuff Eli couldn't be bothered with. When put this way, Eli was only too happy to have her on board. Charity gala's and kissing babies bored him to death.

"Before I sign on, however, I just wanted to address some troubling rumours" Claire said, taking the seat Eli offered on his couch. "Concerning fraudulent votes?"

"Yes, we've heard the same rumours" Peter said smoothly, taking a seat next to Eli, opposite Claire. "They're completely false."

"Likely to have come from Kresteva's campaign" Eli went on. "Nothing but the words from a sore loser."

"Okay" Claire nodded, smiling sweetly. "You've convinced me. Now to the more pressing trouble of Cristian Romano."

"I filled her in" Peter explained to Eli. "He's becoming more of a problem than I originally thought he would be. But I think I know how to handle him, I just wanted your advice first."

As the three of them talked strategy, Eli vaguely noticed Will walking past his office from the corner of his eye. He was smiling impishly, something very out of character for the renowned bad boy of the law. It was like, he was happy or something. Peter roped him back into the conversation with a short question:

"Tomorrow then?" he asked.

"Tomorrow" Eli agreed, and Claire nodded.

* * *

"Cristian, thank you for meeting me here" Peter said, walking forward to greet the dark haired man.

"I was not surprised to get your message" Cristian said, putting his hands in his pockets. "A last ditch effort to dissuade me from running off with your mother, eh?"

They were standing in Eli's office, in the early hours of the morning, about five o' clock. There was no one but them on the entire floor, except for Eli who waited by the elevators in case he needed to head off any unwanted persons.

"Usually I do not get up this early" Cristian went on, "but I have lots of packing to do before Jackie and I leave tomorrow."

"Yes, about that" Peter said, clasping his hands in front of him, as he so often did when he was about to make a threat. "You won't be going."

"Haven't we had this conversation before?"

"Yes, we have" Peter said slowly, staring at Cristian menacingly. "But I don't think I made myself clear; I apologise for that. Sometimes I make my threats too low ball. So let me try again: Cristian, you are on the run from a man called Hector Rini. That's why you're so eager to go on this cruise, you heard that he's headed for New York. It's a little too close for comfort right?"

Cristian was staring at Peter with the precision of a sharp blade. If it were possible to cut with a stare, he would have. He waited for Peter to finish in silence.

"And, I mean, Rini would have no reason to suspect that you're here. You've been so careful, there isn't anyone to sell you out. But just in case, you're headed to the Cayman Islands. Here's the thing though Cristian - now that I know what you're afraid of, you'd better believe I'm going to use it. Feel free to go on your cruise, by all means do. But if you make any attempt to leave with my mother, I'll be sure to have you arrested on some petty charge and make sure that Hector Rini is waiting for you when you're released. Got it?"

Cristian had nothing to say. He nodded, once, and left. Eli congratulated Peter on a job well done.

* * *

Peter had invited Jackie to stay with them for the week and Alicia couldn't say she was thrilled about it. But the poor woman was devastated when all her things were packed and ready to go away with Cristian, but he hadn't shown up. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't answer her calls. So Alicia let her get away with rearranging their lounge room, throwing out half of their food and yelling at Grace for wearing track pants outside. But now Jackie was on her second glass of wine, her comments were becoming more obnoxious, and Alicia decided to get out of the apartment.

"Cary's just texted me, I need to go into work" she lied, and Peter let her go. He didn't really blame her for bailing on dinner, he only wished he could do so himself.

It was late on a Thursday night as she drove towards her office, but on a whim, she decided to change direction and twenty minutes later found herself knocking on Will's front door.

"Alicia, hi" Will smiled, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. "Come on in."

"Sorry to just drop by" she said, following him inside. "Are you busy?"

"Not at all, just doing some paperwork. I've just come back from dinner with Laura" he said, walking to the fridge and pulling out a fresh bottle of white wine.

"How'd it go?" she asked, sitting down at the kitchen bench. Alicia knew he had meant to break things off with her officially this week, although she told him not to do it on her account.

_I will do it on your account_ Will had said cheekily. _It wasn't working anyway_.

"Yeah, okay" Will went on, pouring them both a glass. "She said she saw it coming."

Alicia had been very clear with Will, she didn't want to start anything up between them. But she did want to see him, as a friend, because Alicia could feel things with Peter coming to an end. She just needed to wait for the right moment to make it official. And now that Cristian had been dealt with, that moment would be soon.

"I just needed to get out of the house" Alicia answered, when Will asked her why she had come over. "Jackie is driving me crazy."

"Yeah, I bet" Will said, handing her a glass. "Come on, let's sit on the couch."

Alicia curled her legs up beneath her on the soft cushions, an appropriate distance away from Will. It felt nice just to be able to speak with him again as friends, rather than barking at each other in court, or yelling at one another on the phone. He was still prickly when she brought up work, but Will had mostly become indifferent to the idea of Florrick, Agos and Associates. Alicia was silently thankful to have it, because when she did start things up with Will again, they wouldn't have to worry so much about office politics.

Will's phone vibrated during their second glass of wine, a message from Kalinda.

_Better turn on the news_ it read, and Will picked up his remote, turning on the television.

Cristian Romano's face appeared, with a black eye and a bruised lip. "This is difficult for me to do" he said, in a trembling voice. "But I wanted people to see what he is capable of. Peter Florrick did this to me, I feared for my life. I thought I was going to die."

* * *

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma, Kurt McVeigh, Laura Hellinger and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without it, my story would not exist.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"Why did Peter Florrick assault you Mr Romano?"

"I became romantically involved with his mother" Cristian said from the television, a microphone hovering under his chin. "He is very possessive of his family."

"So why didn't you come forward sooner?"

"He threatened me, and paid me a great deal of money to keep quiet. But I cannot anymore, not when he is endangering other people. He is a bad man, and the people of this country should know it."

The reporter ended her interview there, offering a brief summation of Cristian's accusations to the camera.

* * *

Time is the single most important concept in existence. The problem is, most people don't know that. Or, they know it, but don't appreciate it. Or, they know it, and they appreciate it, but they don't understand it. Kalinda did. So when she saw the CNN footage of Cristian Romano claiming Peter Florrick assaulted him, Kalinda knew that it was time. And she took the hit.

* * *

"It's a lie with a bad fact" Eli said, very calmly as Peter struggled to keep his anger under control beside him. "You did pay him off. Now we need to find out who assaulted him."

They sat on the couch in Alicia's apartment, the television on mute, casting glary images of footage from Peter's campaign back onto their faces. Eli had rushed over as soon as he had heard, trying to calm a raging Peter down over the phone. Zach and Grace were in the kitchen, whispering to one another, worried about their dad.

"I know who it was" Peter growled, keeping his eye focused on the coffee table. He couldn't look anywhere else, for fear that the tiniest thing would set him off. "Hector Rini. Alicia called me ten minutes ago with news from Kalinda. The pay off we gave Cristian was enough to cover his debt with Rini, but Rini's men beat him up for causing trouble. Now Rini's probably on a plane back to Cuba, and I have nothing to use against Cristian. Damnit!"

He finally lost it, jumping up from the couch and punching a hole in the living room wall. Zach and Grace bolted into the living room, watching their dad remove his hand from the plaster.

"Oh, guys, I'm so sorry" Peter said, instantly regretting what he'd done. Grace walked over and wrapped her arms around him, putting her head on her dad's chest. Zach joined her, holding their dad tight, muttering that it would be okay.

The front door opened, and Peter heard two sets of voices walk through.

"I ran into Claire downstairs" Alicia explained, gesturing to his image consultant. Alicia walked forward and gave Peter a tight hug. "Are you okay? What happened to the wall?"

"I punched it" Peter explained, feeling his face fall into one of misery.

"That's okay" Alicia said, relinquishing her grip on him to hold her children. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah mum, we're fine" Zach said, hugging her briefly. "Just worried about dad."

"Claire, thanks for coming" Peter said, gesturing for her to take a seat next to Eli.

"Where's Jackie?" Alicia asked.

"In her room" Grace said quietly, "she's crying."

Peter gave her a quick look and walked away, headed for the maid's room. Eli and Claire began speaking in hushed voices, Zach and Grace retired to their rooms. Alicia took out her phone and started texting.

_Home now, everyone upset but okay. Thanks for tonight, I had fun._

Will replied moments later, telling her he was sorry it had to end so soon, that he had fun as well. And, only feeling mildly guilty, Alicia wiled away the next half hour texting him, back and forth, sometimes giggling like a kid with a crush. Luckily no one was paying her any attention.

Peter came out and set about making a cup of tea for Jackie. Alicia joined him in the kitchen, offering a few comforting words. When Jackie was asleep, they joined Eli and Claire in the living room.

"Well, this couldn't get any worse" Peter said, rubbing his eyes.

"Don't say that" Eli whispered, his eyes wife and glaring at the television screen. "Don't ever say that."

"Eli?" Peter said, looking at the worried lines in his friend's face. "Eli, what is it?"

"Look" Eli said, nodding at the screen.

"Oh my God" Alicia said, feeling her chest harden, her heart stop, her lungs contract.

On the screen was a video image of Jim Moody carrying an alleged box of fraudulent votes on the night before Peter was elected as Governor of Illinois. And from the look on Peter's face, the rumours were true. He was a fraud; he knew it, Eli knew it and now Alicia knew it too.

"It's true" Alicia whispered, icily. "Isn't it?"

Peter turned to her, giving her those sad eyes, full of shame and regret. He'd used them so many times before, and Alicia was sick of seeing them. He nodded, looking down.

Alicia turned around, not even knowing what to say to Zach and Grace, standing just behind her. She opened her mouth to speak and closed it again. She didn't know how to handle this, the room was too silent, the news too heavy.

A phone rang.

"Hello?" Claire asked.

Another phone rang.

"Eli Gold."

A third phone rang. It kept ringing.

"Mum, that's your phone" Zach whispered, clenching his fists.

Will was calling her, and usually Alicia would ignore it. But she needed to hear his voice, his calm, steady, supportive voice. She lifted the phone to her ear.

"Hi, Will" she said, uncaring that Peter heard her say his name.

Peter walked over to Zach and Grace, hugging them. They let him hug them, they were still in shock. But Alicia knew her children, come tomorrow they would feel hurt and betrayed.

"I just saw the news, are you okay?" Will asked her, worried.

"Yes. Well no, but I need to be calm for my kids." Alicia walked into her bedroom, holding the phone in one hand and packing a bag. "I think I might take them to Owen's house. The press are going to be outside my building any moment, I know it."

"Do you want me to come and pick you up?"

"No, that's okay. The kids might take it the wrong way."

"Yeah, of course. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, no it's okay. It's good to just hear your voice."

"Okay. You call me if you need."

"Okay. Oh, Will" Alicia stuttered, as she looked out the window. The street was gridlocked with vans and cars, Alicia could see a mass of people, most of them undoubtedly reporters, waiting. "It doesn't look like I'm going anywhere."

Alicia sat down on the bed, feeling defeated. With something to do, somewhere to take her children and look after them, she had some purpose. Talking to Will helped distract her, but now she was crying and there was nowhere safe to go.

"This just never ends. I feel like I try so hard to do the right thing, and he just keeps taking that for granted and pulling me down. I can't do this anymore, Will."

"You don't have to" Will whispered into the receiver, as Peter kicked the door open.

"Seriously? You're talking to Will about this?"

"Will, I have to go" Alicia said hurriedly, hoping her couldn't hear her husband. "I'll call you later."

She hung up and gave Peter one of her superior, questioning glances.

"I didn't even know you and Will were speaking to each other again."

"It's thanks to Will that Kalinda even helped us with Cristian."

"Yeah, great lot of help that turned out to be. I don't want you talking to Will."

"Excuse me?" Alicia spat contemptuously. "Who do you think you are, telling me not to talk to Will, when there is video footage of your campaign worker handling fraudulent votes?"

"Alicia –"

"No. No Peter, no explanations, no apologies, I want nothing from you. I'm done."

"You're done? What does that mean?"

"It means I'm done. This is the last time. I will not have you drag me and our children through your political mess again. Do you ever think of anything besides your career Peter?"

"This wasn't my fault, I didn't know about the votes until it was too late."

"You think I care?"

"You're friend Will Gardner knew about this you know. He's the one who brought it to my attention."

"So what, Peter? Will found you out and he didn't come forward with it, so what? That's not his responsibility. You were his client, he probably thought he was doing the right thing."

Alicia wasn't entirely sure she was telling the truth, but she had her lawyer voice on. Will's actions were besides the point, and Peter was trying to manipulate her into turning her anger upon Will.

"Know this Peter. When this has blown over, when the press has moved on, and your career is over, I am gone. I will not do this to myself anymore."

"Please don't." Again with the eyes.

"Not this time Peter" Alicia said, slower and calmer now. She was resolute. "You can't say I haven't tried. I'm done."

Peter nodded, defeated. He walked from the room, closing it behind him.

* * *

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma, Kurt McVeigh, Laura Hellinger and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without it, my story would not exist.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"Hi" Will whispered, not taking a moment longer to reach forward and take Alicia in his arms.

They were standing in the doorway of her apartment, quieter now than it had been three days earlier when the news broke.

"Peter's been taken into custody" Alicia admitted tearfully into Will's jacket. "I didn't know who else to call. Actually – you're the only one I wanted to call."

Alicia stood back so that she could see Will's face, but she kept her arms around him. Zach and Grace had agreed to stay with Jackie tonight in her house, but Alicia couldn't stand to join them. Jackie insisted upon Peter's innocence every time she opened her mouth, and all it did was make Alicia angry, so she chose to stay home. The kids were fine without her for a night, and she needed to think. Then she got sick of thinking and the silence of her apartment, so she called Will.

"Wine?" he asked, slipping his hand into hers and leading her to the kitchen. He put a shopping bag on the counter and set about pouring wine, arranging some dips and cheese and bread.

"I wanted to talk to you about something" Alicia said as Will came to sit down beside her on the couch, cramming some cheese and biscuit into his mouth. He was such a boy.

"Yeah?"

"I told Peter that I'm leaving him."

Will's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything.

"I'm done trying to make a life with him" she went on, lowering her eyes, trying to say everything she felt out loud, to make it more real. "I haven't actually felt any sort of love for him in years. Not since everything happened the first time he was arrested. I just got confused somewhere between then and now, I thought I loved him again, but I didn't - I don't."

"I'm so sorry Alicia."

"You don't have to say that."

"I am, I'm sorry you're hurting. You deserve to be happy you know."

Alicia nodded, looking up at him shyly through her eye lashes.

"Thanks" she smiled, taking his hand, rubbing her thumb on his palm.

Will took Alicia's wine glass and put it on the table next to his. Then, he leaned forward and cupped her cheek in his hand, kissing her softly on her lips. Alicia fell into his kiss, grabbing his arms and leaning forward, pushing Will back so that she was on top of him, flat on the couch. Their kisses were slow and sweet at first, and then became faster and harder. Will moved his hand under her dress and Alicia put hers under his shirt. They broke apart only to remove clothing, and once it was all removed, they kissed again.

* * *

Alicia woke wrapped in Will's arms, he was snoring softly beside her. She turned around in her bed so that she could look at him, careful not to wake him up. She ran her fingers over his cheek bones and lips, remembering moments they'd shared like this one in the past. Will's eyes opened slowly and he smiled, drawing her even closer to him with his arms. Alicia kissed him.

"Good morning" she whispered.

Will groaned happy and tired. "Hi."

"So what now?" she asked, unable to help herself. She wanted a plan.

"Now, I make you breakfast" Will said, sitting up and stretching. "And we talk properly."

"Okay" Alicia nodded, looking around for something to wear. She found Will's shirt and put it on.

"What am I supposed to wear?" he asked.

Alicia walked over to her chest of draws and pulled out a grey t-shirt. "I borrowed this from you the last time we were together, and I was too embarrassed to give it back. But I couldn't throw it out either."

Alicia handed him the top with Georgetown written across in blue capitals.

"I was wondering where that had got to" he said, pulling it over his head.

"I want it back though" Alicia warned, pointing a finger at him.

"But it's mine."

"I like wearing it" she shrugged. "But you can borrow it long enough so that it smells like you again."

Alicia walked out into the kitchen to make coffee and Will followed, wearing jeans and the Georgetown t-shirt.

"I feel like we're in college again" he said, putting his hands on her hips and kissing the back of her neck. "I guess I'd better make you pancakes then."

"I loved your pancakes" Alicia smiled. "It's the only thing you could cook."

"Hey, I've learnt a lot since college" Will said, going to the fridge and looking for ingredients. "I can make nachos now too."

"Wow, really? With corn chips and cheese and everything?"

"Yeah, it's pretty impressive" Will laughed. "Hey, are you busy not this weekend but the one after?"

Alicia shook her head. "I don't think so. Why?"

"Want to come with me to a wedding?"

"Like a date?"

"Yeah. Like a date."

* * *

Alicia felt awkward stepping out of the car, looking up at the golf club where the wedding was being held. But as soon as Will took her hand, she felt fine. Smiling, they walked into the building together. The ceremony was being held in a wide room, painted white and surrounded by French doors which opened out onto the golf course. Will left Alicia sitting at the front with Kalinda. She smoothed down her blue dress, finding it surprisingly easy to talk to Kalinda. Just like old times.

When the room grew quiet and the music struck up, Alicia looked over her shoulder to see Will walking Diane down the aisle. She never cried at weddings, not even her own, but Alicia felt her heart pound and smiled. Will caught her eye and never took his eyes off her until he reached the alter, giving Diane's hand to Kurt. He remained up on the alter with Diane, who had chosen not to have any bridesmaids.

It was a new beginning, for Diane and Kurt, for Alicia's family, for Will. Alicia was happy.

* * *

**Authors note: **

Hey everyone, sorry for the excruciatingly long hiatus. I had exams! I decided to finish this story here because it seemed appropriate and I'd like to start a new one. Thank you for all the lovely reviews and patience, you're all champs :)

**Disclaimer:**

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from _The Good Wife_ television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma, Kurt McVeigh, Laura Hellinger and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of _The Good Wife_. The story I tell here about _The Good Wife_ characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for _The Good Wife_, for their wonderful show, as without it, my story would not exist.


End file.
